Our tools are at the nucleus of the most advanced life science research today, most notably proteomics.

There has never been a better time to be a Waters customer, employee or investor. Researchers around the world increasingly depend on our high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), mass spectrometry (MS) and thermal analysis (TA) instrumentation, as well as our separation chemistries and software. These technologies allow them to extract knowledge they need to make critical decisions that lead to important breakthroughs. Many of these breakthroughs are occurring in an exciting new field called proteomics. Scientists in this field analyze the structure and function of all the proteins in living cells. With this knowledge, scientists can gain a better understanding of the causes of disease, ultimately refining the diagnosis and treatment processes.

Success in proteomics relies on the integration of two highly specialized technologies: HPLC and MS. In tandem, these technologies identify and quantitate proteins from complex biological samples. To successfully separate and analyze the proteins, HPLC and MS systems must work together as seamlessly as possible. Waters has unrivaled experience designing and applying these two technologies, creating the most powerful–and complete–HPLC/MS solutions available.

Today, proteomics is in its infancy. Scientists are aggressively cataloging which proteins exist in the human body, where they exist, and in what concentrations. However, discerning this information is only the first step. Scientists must then piece together all of the meaningful protein-to-protein interactions. And since more than one million proteins are thought to exist in the human body, this task is exceedingly difficult and may take decades to complete.

Another important emerging field of research is metabolomics–the characterization of metabolites present in humans. By profiling these small molecules, scientists hope to learn more about metabolic profiles and their relationship to health. In that way, they can optimize the effectiveness of therapeutic treatments. Waters HPLC and MS expertise is ideal for quantifying and identifying these molecules, furthering scientists’ understanding of disease.

Efforts in these fields involve thousands of scientists and thousands of research laboratories. The market for laboratory instruments and supplies to carry out this research is expected to grow significantly. And at the center of it all will be Waters, answering the analytical needs of life scientists around the world, right on time.

Today, our company is in an excellent position to help researchers understand proteins and their relationship to disease.

Now more than ever, the company that understands the analytical needs of life science researchers faster and more comprehensively will be the company these researchers turn to. And no other company is better structured or has the capacity to meet those needs as quickly–or more completely–as Waters. Our size and resources have allowed us to invest significantly in the research and development of the analytical lab’s four most critical ingredients: instrumentation, software, chemistry and support services. In doing so, Waters is successfully positioned as a company that makes and services components for every stage of HPLC/MS analysis. Our breadth of products and services bridges the entire spectrum from basic research to pharmaceutical manufacturing.

This vast range of products and services helps our customers streamline new product development. It also ensures the quality of their current products. Thanks to these attributes, we’ve installed tens of thousands of instruments worldwide. And the demand keeps growing. Why? Because more and more researchers and scientists view Waters as a partner, not just a vendor. The partner with all of the resources they need to help them find the answers they’re looking for faster.

The innovations we’re bringing to the market are creating a new generation of drug discovery systems.

For over 40 years, Waters has provided researchers and scientists with leading instrument technology. But never before in our history have we brought such a broad range of innovative new products to market in such a short period of time.

In the past five years alone, these new products have virtually changed the way scientists work in their laboratories.

The Q-TOF mass spectrometer, pioneered by Micromass to characterize proteins, now powers many leading-edge laboratories endeavoring to solve the proteomics puzzle.

Our flagship Alliance HPLC systems have set new standards for performance, accuracy, ruggedness and reliability. These systems have become the standard used by many international companies to test their products. When combined with our ZQ mass detector, they form a powerful HPLC system for small molecule characterization.

Our versatile Millennium32 chromatography software efficiently achieves and maintains regulatory compliance for labs, further speeding new drug development.

Recently, we combined our FractionLynx systems with our new XTerra Prep Columns to create the fastest, most scalable autopurification system available. We also combined the Micromass Q-TOF mass spectrometer with our integrated capillary LC system, the CapLC, maximizing the amount of data scientists can extract from biological samples.

Finally, TA Instruments’ recent innovations in differential scanning calorimetry have brought enhanced measurement accuracy, precision, and resolution to thermal analysis. Advances such as these make our technology even more attractive to pharmaceutical researchers who place a premium on throughput and automation.

Bringing products such as these–as well as many others we have planned for the near future–to scientists when they need them ensures the continued success of both Waters and scientific labs around the world.

Waters technologies are vital to the success of all labs that turn analytical data into useful information.

In addition to the life science market, we provide a number of other industries with a broad range of HPLC, MS and thermal analysis products and services. Waters contributes to the success of laboratories in the industrial, food and beverage, environmental, fine chemical, personal care products, semiconductor and plastics markets. Our leadership in these markets can be attributed to our operating divisions: Waters, Micromass and TA Instruments. Many of the largest and most successful life science, organic and inorganic chemical labs around the world rely on Micromass MS instruments and Mass-Informatics™ systems to help them accurately and efficiently measure molecular masses. TA Instruments is the world’s leading supplier of thermal analysis and rheology instruments. These instruments are fundamental to R&D, analytical and quality control scientists that need to characterize plastics, organic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, foods, biologicals, oils, lubricants and structural materials.

Maintaining our leadership requires us to have a deep understanding of the sciences we support. In the past year, we’ve invested in new laboratories and hired dozens of scientists, from industry and academia, to give us the expertise we need to be successful. We’ve also forged a number of exciting new relationships with companies to deepen our understanding of the scientific community’s needs and to enhance our proficiencies. In the future, new Waters products will help scientists expand their research capabilities, manage their data better and analyze larger numbers of smaller samples quickly and more accurately. This unique ability to anticipate our customers’ needs and meet them faster and better will continue to prove Waters technology invaluable to a wide range of industries. That’s what makes us Waters. And that’s what makes us right on time.